Immigration in Greece has emerged as one of the major social issues with serious political and economic repercussions. The largest group of immigrants residing in Greece comes from ex communist countries.
There are more than 1 million immigrants in Greece (equivalent to 10% of the population) mostly from Albania, followed by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Iraq, Kurdistan, Philippines and many African counties.
Wages in Greece for work in the black market are 3 to 6 times higher than standard wages in their home countries. Yet, they have to live their lives in the insecurity and the constant fear of being deported. Since Greece has declared that is not an immigration country, there is hardly any state infrastructure to help immigrants integrate in the Greek society.